5 things we learnt on Money20/20 Day 2

From the giant of Asia, Alipay, looking to the West for newer and bigger opportunities to a live demonstration of a cardless ATM, here are the five things we noticed on the second day of Money20/20 Copenhagen.

1. The Home is the next big hub of commerce

When we spoke to Amazon’s Patrick Gauthier, he said that the Home will be the next “big hub of commerce”. Wirecard’s Christian von Hammel-Bonten also sees the future going that way saying “most commerce is happening at home”. This is the evolution of the mantra, succinctly put by Ann Cairns as “if it’s easy to use, customers will adopt it” – what is easier than paying without having to move at all?

2. The cardless ATM in action!

We went to Diebold’s stand to see the company’s cardless ATM in action. The machine, which was at first tested by Citi, replaces the card with a mobile device as a means of authentication and accessing information. We were shown how you can pre-schedule a cash withdrawal and when ready just turn up at any terminal and the cash automatically comes out. The machine works with QR Codes and even iris scanners. On that subject, we were told that any biometric method could be used including fingerprint.

3. Samsung dipping fingers in many pies

Obviously a giant like Samsung was always going to adopt a broad reach in terms of payments interests. Nonetheless, it was very interesting hearing about the company’s recent Giftcards and Giftcards Mall products. Just the day before, MasterCard’s Ann Cairns said that Reward Platforms is an area of interest for the company. Are we witnessing the proper formation of a future top trend? On other fronts, PaymentEye tried the Oculus VR headset that uses Samsung Gear phone as the screen and were very impressed. Whilst the demo was about Iron Man and the Avengers rather than anything payments-related, it is definitely one area to monitor.

4. Google is incredibly excited about contactless momentum

The director of Google’s Emerging Platforms, Spencer Spinnell, said that “payments has to work and has to be seamless” – not just quotable froth given the company’s recent Hands Free pilot scheme. He also praised the importance of mobile, asking the audience what other invention has got people to voluntarily look at it 150 times a day.

5. Alipay looks to the West

Alipay’s Sabrina Peng underlined the vastness of the operation that is Alipay and officially announced the company’s expansion into the European market. This means that western businesses can make the most of the opportunity presented by the growing Chinese tourist market, which according to Alipay, spent $165 billion abroad in 2014. As part of the expansion, Alipay is also planning to launch a “Local Services Platform”in May that will use geo-location to tell users what kind of shops and restaurants are in the area, how to get there and even what offers they can get.